What makes a personal statement stand out?

This is one of the most common questions I have received from students I have helped in the past. I have had lots of experience writing and editing my own personal statements for medicine (more than once), which has taught me a lot of tips and tricks to make a personal statement stand out.
One of the main ways this can be done is really drawing on your experiences that make you different. Every medicine applicant has done work experience, some form of social service and at least one sport/music/art based activity in addition to school commitments. Simply mentioning these things and what you learned from them won't do. Alongside these, you need to write it in a creative and captivating way, without too much "flowery" writing.
The first sentence of your personal statement needs to have impact on the reader and must draw them into finding out what kind of person you are. Again, this takes practice and feedback, which I can help with.